


Samuel Drake, Meet Lara Croft

by Sharonfofaron



Category: Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (Movies 2001 2003), Tomb Raider & Related Fandoms, Tomb Raider (Movie 2018), Uncharted (Video Games)
Genre: Adorable, Alicia Vikander - Freeform, Cute, F/M, Sam Drake - Freeform, Sam Drake x Lara Croft, Sam Drake/Lara Croft, Samuel Drake and Lara Croft - Freeform, Samuel Drake x Lara Croft, Slow Burn Romance, Troy Baker - Freeform, Uncharted 4, and Troy as Sam too, how great is Alicia as Lara though, lara croft tomb raider, uncharted - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-18
Updated: 2019-06-08
Packaged: 2019-07-13 23:17:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 14,811
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16028054
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sharonfofaron/pseuds/Sharonfofaron
Summary: Lara Croft, the Tomb Raider herself, runs into Sam and Nathan in Madagascar on Avery's island, and a few other times. Sam's rather...impressed with her.I'm writing this because I couldn't find many works that had a Samuel Drake/ Lara Croft relationship, and I think their dynamic would be sexy and interesting. I'm imagining this as Alicia Vikander's 2018 Lara Croft, and the young Panama Sam, but you're welcome to imagine whichever Lara you like!I'm also in the Tomb Raider spirit because the newest game has just come out, and so far it has been EPIC. :)





	1. Chapter 1

"Hey, Sam, do you--" Nathan abruptly stopped talking--and walking--in front of Sam in the island underbrush, and Sam started catching up from where he was coming down the makeshift trail behind him. 

"Nathan? S'matter--" Sam nearly bumped into his brother, who had his hands up. "Whoa whoa whoaaaaa," Nathan was saying quietly. "Take it eaaasy. Back up, Sam, back up--"

"What, is it a ledge--" Sam asked, looking over his brother's shoulder and finishing his own sentence abruptly as he saw what Nathan saw--which would be an arrow, drawn in a bow and only centimeters away from his baby brother's face. 

The bushes parted a little further, to reveal the most beautiful--and most petite--woman Sam had ever seen. She was tanned, with brown hair in a disheveled ponytail, and wearing a roughed-up gray--or was it just a dirty green?--tank top and olive, formfitting hiking pants that showed off her muscular (albeit obviously tiny) physique. She had a strikingly flawless face, with the bone structure and elegance of a china doll, and chocolate-brown almond-shaped eyes that were fixed on Nathan. 

And right now, those eyes looked scared and ready to kill. 

They darted between the two of them, the woman obviously realizing that two against one was worse news for her, but her jaw tightened and her firm, steady grip on her bow kept the arrow taut as she started moving the bow between both of them nervously with quick little movements. Sam and Nathan both recognized the fear in her eyes, and the tension in her body made her look a bit like a baby deer out of its element--but the bow and the muscle were a stark contrast with that comparison, and firm reminders that she was still a threat. 

"Hey hey hey, it's okay, we're all friends here," Sam said smoothly, making his voice a higher and lighter one and holding up his own hands. That arrow was still pointed way too close to his brother's face...if only he could get in front of Nathan...

Sam grimly wished that he'd been walking first. 

Since Nathan's voice didn't seem to be working anymore--more from the shock than anything else, since he really had NOT been expecting to walk right into a tiny stunning little death-machine--Sam kept talking and turned on his ever-reliable charm like a switch. 

"I'm Sam, and this is my brother Nathan," he said brightly, still keeping his voice light and his hands up. Nathan's hands had started to go down a little, his body automatically relaxing as he felt his brother taking charge. "Keep your hands up, Nathan, so she sees you're not a threat." Sam's voice was still casual--and actually a little joking, as he tested the woman's reactions--and he gave Nathan a little bump with his elbow to gently make him comply.

The small woman looked between the two of them, her eyes flickering nervously as Sam's joking, surprisingly relaxed tone threw her off. Sam sensed that his jovial bluff was working--when did it NOT work, he thought to himself smugly for a second--but kept his own hands up all the same, talking in his sardonic Boston voice. 

"And we're not with Shoreline, if that's what you're thinkin'," he continued. Her eyes narrowed. "Are you why they're here?" Sam and Nathan both looked sheepish now. "Eh..." Sam waffled "WHY is a strong word. Call it a coincidence." Her gaze didn't let up, so he kept talking with a guilty shrug. "We're just minding our own business on a little treasure hunt, a'right?" 

The woman's eyes seemed to shift and get more curious, although she hadn't lowered her arrow one bit (much to Nathan's chagrin). "T-treasure hunt?" Her voice was smoother and more velvety than Sam had expected from a woman her size; it had presence, and power, and even a slight huskiness to it. Not to mention what sounded like an English accent--and Sam was a sucker for anything that had THAT accent, as a side effect of growing up around rougher Boston ones like his own. For him, an English accent was the epitome of prim, proper, and sexy. Particularly this one. 

Trying to get her to talk some more--and still wishing he could get in FRONT of his baby brother--Sam responded as cheerily as if they were just chatting on the street. "Yeah. Don't suppose you've seen any random 17th-century pirate utopias around here, have you?"

The woman blinked. "Actually, I have." The arrow lowered an inch, and Nathan released part of the breath he'd been holding while Sam raised an eyebrow--but then Elena caught up to them, from where she'd gone off to scout a little, and the new arrival made the woman panic and re-tighten her position, moving her aim with lightning-speed to point towards Elena. "Whoaaaa," Elena said, putting up her own hands and stopping in her tracks as the woman's arrow fixed on her. Sam and Nathan both noticed the stranger visibly jolt when she saw another woman there, particularly a woman closer to her height, and Sam recognized the reluctant settling in her eyes: she was relaxing. Clearly Elena's presence was some kind of good sign in her mind. 

"Hi," Elena said warmly, her down-to-earth nature already coming out. "I'm Elena, and I see you've already met Nathan and Sam. We're not here to cause any trouble." 

The woman lowered the bow slowly, grudgingly, and straightened. Nathan practically sagged in relief--he didn't love seeing ELENA threatened, either--and Sam put a bracing arm around his brother's shoulder and the other hand on his own abs, breathing out in a cheery little "whew". 

"I'm Lara." 

Nathan stood up straighter. "Wait--" Sam perked up, hearing the change in Nathan's voice that meant he was excited "Bow and arrow, brown hair, sho--STRONG," he quickly changed his word, seeing Lara start to raise a challenging eyebrow when he was obviously about to say 'short' "You're...are you Lara Croft? THE Lara Croft?" 

Lara looked between the three of them, suddenly looking bashful. "Y-yes?" she said tentatively, looking so unexpectedly adorable that Sam felt himself start to smirk a little. 

"Victor Sullivan's told me about you. US about you." Nathan gestured to Elena and himself, and Sam bristled a little at feeling left out. Dammit, he thought, I'm the only one who doesn't know who this girl IS. 

"She's one of us; Sully's worked with her," Nate said cheerfully, tapping Sam's arm companionably. "He says people call you the Tomb Raider," he said to Lara now, looking so much like a proud little-boy who'd gotten an answer right that Lara couldn't help a little laugh from coming through her lips. It was a small one, but all three other people visibly relaxed more upon hearing it. And Sam caught himself wondering what it'd be like to see her smile. 

"I suppose they do," she admitted sheepishly. "And you must be Nathan Drake." Nate preened at that. She kept speaking, sagging a little. "I'm sorry," she gestured down at her bow awkwardly, and Sam's mouth quirked at hearing the cute English accent again. "It's been a...difficult day," she conceded in a tiny voice, looking genuinely worn out in a way that suggested her sentence had been a HUGE understatement. Sam became aware again of how roughed-up she looked, and felt some guilt come back. They WERE the reason Shoreline was here, after all... 

"You're hurt." Elena gestured to a bloody spot on Lara's lower right abdomen. "It only hurts if I think about it," the woman responded, voice breaking just a little. She swallowed hard before wiping some dirt off her forehead. "I-I didn't expect anyone else to BE here." It sounded like such a genuine confession that Sam felt the guilt keep rising. 

"Sorry." Nate looked rueful, too. "Guess we kind of ruined your vacation, huh?"

Lara laughed a little at that again, putting her bow over her shoulder deftly. Sam discerned--from that motion and from the easy way she'd maneuvered the bow--that she'd done it many times.

She looked off to the side, examining her surroundings and obviously collecting herself, before straightening again. "Look, I've got to go, but I have seen your utopia. It's just back that way, off to the right through a ravine." Nathan and Sam's faces brightened. "And here," Lara reached into a pocket--gingerly, to avoid moving her torso--and took out some yellowed letters. "I've been finding letters like these on a few bodies; they'll probably be of more use to you." She handed them to Nathan. 

"Wait." Sam looked at her curiously. "You're not here for Libertalia?" 

"No," Lara said, looking between the three of them, her expression withdrawing into a more neutral one. "I came here for something...else." All three opened their mouths to ask more, but she was already moving off to the left. "I'm stealing a boat from Shoreline to get out of here, since they destroyed mine" she said briskly, pausing for a second. "Would you like me to get one for you as well? There's a cove just over there" she nodded her head back a ways "that I could hide it in for you to take." 

Elena smiled. "Nah, we've got a plane to catch."

Lara smiled a tiny smile. "Victor?" 

"Who the hell else?" Nathan asked, beaming. 

"All right then. Good luck," she said, walking backwards with a reserved, polite little wave before turning around and vanishing into the undergrowth.

"You too," Nathan called after her. "Well, that was fun. To Libertalia we go then," he chirped cheerily as they started walking. Sam walked alongside him in tandem, looking back the way Lara had gone for a second. "She's a cutie," he said, surprisingly affectionately. "I like her." It sounded more like he was musing to himself, and less like his usual flirtatious comments, so Nate glanced at him with a smile. 

"Yeah, aside from being a little skittish. But we can't really blame her for that. I mean, it is our FAULT that she's had a lousy trip to King's Bay and all," Nate responded with a laugh, looking down at where his feet were going now as they hiked downhill. 

"Wonder what she was looking for," Sam murmured. "Hey, you think there's something on this island more valuable than Libertalia?" 

"Or maybe it's something that was IN Libertalia," Nate responded. "Maybe she already has it. I mean, she WAS leaving." 

"That was a nice offer about the boat."

"Yeah. Classy move." 

"I'm a little surprised that you guys haven't crossed paths before," Elena chimed in behind them. "Especially if you're both working with Sully." 

"I know, that's what I told him too. What're the odds?" 

"So what d'you know about her?" Sam asked, curious, as they started hopping down some rocks. 

"Well, let me think," Nate said with a cheery little huff as he finished a mud slide, turning around to help the other two up. "Like I said, bow and arrow--but good with pistols, too, according to Sully--brunette, SHORT" he lowered his voice with that one, as if she was still there to hear him. 

"Yeah, nice save with that one, by the way," Elena smirked teasingly. 

Nate laughed. "Other than that, I mean--" they started climbing up a cliff-side "smart, tough, resourceful, beautiful--" Sam gave a little hum of approval at that "--kind of quiet, but easy to work with. And good at what she does, too--I mean, obviously, because she's still ALIVE. I think Sully mentioned her starting in normal, legal archaeology, but something happened to make her go off the beaten path." 

"'Easy to work with'?" Sam said, climbing up a little behind Nathan "IIIII don't know, Nathan, I get the feeling she could be pretty feisty. Napoleon complex, you know? Like those cute little dogs that always wanna bite your head off."

"Pretty sure that's NOT something you should ever say to her face," Elena laughed.

"Ha. Can you imagine?" Sam chuckled as he climbed. "Looked like she was good with that bow, too," he added thoughtfully, impressed. 

"Yeah," Nate said as they reached the cliff's summit, "She is." Something behind some vines caught his eye, and he beckoned Sam over. "Look. It's Avery's sigil." 

Sam grinned so wide, he felt like his face might break. "Libertalia, here we come." And with an optimistic toss of the Scottish coin between his fingers, off they went--with Sam only briefly imagining Miss Lara Croft speeding away on a motorboat.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The dress is Alicia Vikander's dress from the Steve Jobs premiere, which can be seen here: https://www.google.com/search?q=vikander+steve+jobs+premiere&safe=active&rlz=1C1GGRV_enUS756US756&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjx5OLBlMXdAhWttlkKHaeZCBUQsAR6BAgGEAE&biw=1280&bih=584#imgrc=TEL9LzjChBEMvM:

Six months later, Sam, Nathan, and Sullivan were back at the Rossi Estate--this time for a different auction, and this time without (they hoped) being involved in a ballroom shootout. They weren't there to buy anything specific tonight, but since they were already in Italy and itching for some excitement, they'd decided to hit up the party just in case. Sam would be lying if he said that he wasn't hoping, just a LITTLE, that somebody might try something tonight. Sully and Nathan, however, were a bit too busy neurotically hoping that no one would make accusations that they'd been the ones to rob that last big auction. 

They had, but they still didn't want to be ACCUSED of it. 

"Oh, this place is still fancy...of course they'd play douchey European techno," Nathan joked as the three of them snacked on antipasti, looking down on the auction from a balcony up on above on the second floor. 

"Well, when in Rome..." Sam said casually, taking another bite while Sullivan sipped his Scotch. 

"Heh, cause we're in Italy, I get it."

"Yeah, yeah, smartass." Sam ruffled Nathan's head affectionately, shoving him a little, and Nate laughed. "Hey," Sam kept talking, eyes lighting up, "you guys catch that bike outside?"

"Yeah. The 150, right?" Nate asked. Sam scoffed. "150? No way, that's the 250 cc, twin! You gotta brush up on your bikes, little brother." He bumped Nathan again and took his antipasti. Nate gasped in protest before taking another one from a passing waiter. "But that bike was nice," Sam said appreciatively. "Wonder who owns it." 

"Victor?" A diminutive, posh voice sounded behind them, and Sully smiled as they turned around to see none other than the little Lara Croft, standing there delicately holding a champagne. 

"Heyyyy, Lara!" all three men said at the same time, in different volumes and cadences, and Lara couldn't help but smile a little bigger now that she was getting a warm reception. "Fancy meeting you here," Sam said, and Nate glanced at him, recognizing the tone as the same one from Madagascar--a guileless and excited, not lecherous, one. 

Lara's smile got even bigger at realizing that they were genuinely excited to see her, and Sam literally felt his heart jump in his chest when he actually saw her full, megawatt grin. Sully, having known Lara longer, stepped forward for a hug. "My God," he said slowly, stunned as he looked her up and down, "I don't think I've EVER seen you in a dress." 

Lara's smile shifted into a sassy little smirk, and Sam's grin grew. "I know. They wouldn't let me in otherwise," she protested elegantly, with a husky little laugh, gesturing down at herself sheepishly. Compared to the femme fatale dresses that Sam had previously been ogling here tonight, Lara's off-the-shoulder ankle-length burgundy dress was practically Amish in comparison. Even her long, slender arms were covered--and her hair was almost completely down, with just a few little twists to hold some back, and she had almost no makeup on. 

Sam couldn't stop staring at her. He'd never seen anyone so effortlessly beautiful. 

It was a mind-bending experience, trying to reconcile the English-rose in front of him with the tough, scared girl he'd met back on the island. There was still a timidity in her smile, but her posture was tall and straight--or, as tall as her small stature could make her. They'd run into Nadine Ross a little earlier, and being in Lara's presence was already different, Sam thought, as she stepped up next to Sully to join them at the standing table. Talking to Lara felt like talking to a bird, or something more appropriate that he couldn't think of right now; talking to Nadine was like talking to a tiger. 

Sully must have had similar thoughts. "Well, you look lovely Lara, even if you don't want me to say it." She'd already started to give him a chastising look before he finished his sentence, and he held up his hands in mock surrender before she started laughing. It was a twinkly little laugh, like bubbles, and Sam had to cover his giddiness from the sound with another sip of his drink. "And I have to admit," Sully continued, "YOUR company is a whole lot more pleasurable than everyone else's here--present company excluded, of course," he added when Nathan opened his mouth to protest. 

"Oh?" Lara tilted her head, questioning, and Sam kept staring. 

"We just had another run-in with Nadine Ross," Sully said.

"From Shoreline?" Lara asked, sipping her champagne, eyes intently fixed on Sully while he was speaking. Sam suddenly felt jealousy rise up, just a little. He wanted her to look at HIM. 

"Fortunately, she doesn't seem to be holding a grudge," he piped up, eating another antipasti and grinning as it got her attention. "All's fair in treasure hunting, then, I suppose," she said, doing that twinkly little laugh again. Sam felt himself laugh too, a genuine chuckle. "Yeah, guess so." 

"Hey, what're you doin' here anyway, Lara?" Nathan asked happily. "From what Sully's said about you, it didn't seem like this would really be your type of thing." He gestured around them at the auction. 

Lara shrugged, lifting her champagne again and looking around the room. "Well, normally I wouldn't. But I am here FOR something tonight," she admitted. All three men's eyes widened, interested. 

"Do tell," Sully smirked. Lara made a face at him. "Not a chance, Victor." 

"Ohhhh, please tell me you're gonna rob the place," Sam whispered in a low voice. "Otherwise this'll be inSANELY boring." 

Lara bit her lip, and the boys' gazes intensified. "Wait, you serious?" Sam said, his Boston accent sounding caustic. "I'm not stealing anything from the AUCTION," she whispered back quickly, embarrassed. 

"Then what ARE you stealing?" Sully asked. Lara looked up at him, and Nate and Sam grinned as they recognized the tremendous height difference. "What I'm interested in is something much smaller," she said enigmatically. It was a key card, actually, and her target had arrived just a few moments ago. 

"So not that sweet bike outside," Sam asked, quirking an eyebrow. Lara perked up. "Bike?"

Seeing her interest, Sam grinned wider. "Yeah, the 250--"

"--cc twin," she said, interrupting with a blush. "That's mine." 

Now it was all three of the boys' turn to stare. 

"Holy shIT, you serious?" Sam asked, getting a little louder. Lara nodded, laughing as she finished her champagne. "That's your bike." He stared at her disbelievingly, and she nodded again. 

"I didn't know you KNEW bikes, Lara," Sully said, impressed. "But I guess I shouldn't surprised. You tend to know a little about everything." 

Lara shrugged, bashful from the attention now, and put down her glass. "Well, I'm glad someone appreciates it," she said, smiling kindly at Sam as she started stepping away. "I do have to go, but it was nice to see you all. And sorry--" her accent came out stronger on the word, making Sam grin still wider as she awkwardly gestured with her hands to him and Nathan "again for trying to shoot you." She laughed a breathy laugh at the end, clearly joking, and Nate and Sam laughed along. 

"Hey, I tend to get over death threats pretty easily," Nate said with a friendly wave goodbye. 

Her mention of the island run-in had reminded Sam. "Hey," he nodded towards her torso, definitely NOT starting to blush a little "that still hurt?"

Lara smiled softly. "No, thanks, I'm all right." 

"Good luck, Lara. You be careful." Sully raised a cigar in her direction. Lara looked over her shoulder, suddenly delivering a surprisingly devilish smirk. "I always am." With a swish of her hair, she headed downstairs, smiling at the unexpected reunion. She liked those boys--and she didn't like all that many people, usually. At least not in the industry. It was fun to hang out with genuinely nice treasure hunters. 

Upstairs, Sully, Sam, and Nathan were saying the same thing--and Sam was trying to rein in his blush.


	3. Chapter 3

Lara stepped up to the corner of the quiet hallway, her hands pressed against the wall behind her as she carefully looked around its edge. The man was still standing there, with two guards--and they were packing some serious heat. Her face still angled to watch them, she jolted a little when a voice showed up next to her. 

"Hey," Sam whispered, deliberately hanging back to reveal his presence a few yards away with a sheepish little wave. A little embarrassed, he cleared his throat and briskly moved to hide next to her. "You need a hand?"

"What are you doing here?" Lara asked. There was no hostility in her voice, only surprise, but Sam still had to thank God that this courtyard didn't have much moonlight. He'd been as nervous following her as he had been asking Crystal out on their first date when he was a teenager-not that he'd ever admit this to Nathan or Victor. "Eh, Nathan and Sullivan are still snacking, I got bored." He tried to keep his voice light, but still felt like she could see him blushing, so he cleared his throat again and forced himself into stealth mode. "Alright, what do we got?" he asked in a low voice, face getting serious as he tried to look around the bend easily over Lara's delicate head.

Lara WAS surprised to see him there, but pleasantly so; she didn't get to work with partners much. Her work was too personal for that. "See that man in the middle?" she asked, and Sam smiled a little before refocusing as he realized she wasn't going to kick him out. With a quick glance, he nodded. "Yeah." 

"There's a keycard in his back left pocket. I need it," she explained quietly, taking a bracing breath as she readied herself for action. 

Sam's hand touched hers a little, since they were both pressed up against the wall, and he quickly moved it. Dammit, he thought, I am DEFINITELY red now. 

"Guess you weren't kidding about it being smaller," he chuckled. "Okay, you run interference and I'll make the grab. Unless--" he continued rapidly, misinterpreting her expression as one of dismay when it was really just surprise at his offer "they already know you?"

"No," Lara responded thoughtfully, looking around the corner again. "They don't. All right. let's go," she whispered. Sam somersaulted smoothly into a grassy section in the middle of the courtyard, vanishing into it skillfully, as Lara suddenly put on a smile and started walking down the hallway to catch up to the man and his rent-a-thug goons. 

"Excuse me!" she chirped cheerfully, with a big, bashful smile and a hopeful little wave, posture changing as she morphed into a shyly-enthused fangirl. "Are you Nikolai Thatcher? I just--I read your essays," she said with a self-deprecating laugh. The man and his guards had turned to see her, tense posture immediately shifting when they saw a 5 foot 2 girl--and a pretty one at that--approaching in such a meek and awestruck way. "I'm a rather big fan, and someone told me you were here."

"Yes, I am," Nikolai said, looking exceedingly proud of it. The guards appraised Lara, up and down, and she dignified them both with deliberately-adorable smiles and waves. One guard immediately started to blush--and in the grass just behind them, Sam felt himself bristle. 

"I was actually wondering..." Lara segued into a discussion about the man's writings, particularly his published thoughts on international economics, and shifted her position enough to get his back to some shadows. It only took Sam a second--and Lara steadfastly looked nowhere but Nikolai's face for the entirety of it, still seeming genuinely interested in what he had to say--to make the grab and sink back into the grass.

Sam had thought Lara would end the conversation there, but she let it naturally rise and fall for a few more minutes before cutting Nikolai loose--although, not before being asked to attend one of his lectures back in London. "You're English, by the sound of it," he said smoothly, laying on the charm despite the fact that he was hitting on a girl at least fifteen years his junior "I'll be leading a discussion at King's College this coming September. Perhaps I'll see you there." 

Lara nodded enigmatically, keeping her smile on even though Sam could sense her now trying to pull away. "Perhaps you will. Nice to meet you all," she said brightly, giving one more wave to the guards before heading back the way she'd come. 

Sam was lounging against the wall when she rounded the corner, flipping the key card over and over in his hand. "Nice work," he said blithely. "Nice moves," she responded with a genuine grin, taking the card as he handed it over with mocking formality. "Patna," he read from it skeptically. "What is that, a company?" 

"Yes," Lara said, glancing around the corner to make sure Nikolai had really left. "It's operated by a group that I'm after; they use companies like this one to fund their operations covertly. Nikolai Thatcher is one of their biggest undercover supporters." 

"Really." There was silence for a moment as they started walking back towards the party. "Yoouuu're not really gonna go with him to that thing, are you?" he asked deceptively casually, drawing out his sentence to express his trepidation. Lara, missing his cues, was already looking around the party for the exit. "I might," she responded, and Sam's casual facade fell for a moment as his eyes stayed fixed on her "it's an easy way to keep an eye on him and see who else attends, since they'll probably be working with him." 

The logical response made Sam feel a bit better. "Aaaand this group is...?"

"They call themselves Trinity," Lara said quietly, still looking around the crowd. "They tried to kill me." 

"Jesus." 

"I've got to go, Sam, but thank you for your help, it was actually very..." she gestured vaguely for a second before laughing at her own ineptitude "helpful. Take care." She started walking away, still smiling, and Sam grinned back, opening his arms and gesturing to himself cockily. "Hey, I aim to please. See ya around, Lara." 

As soon as she'd left, Nathan sidled up to him from out of nowhere. "Shut up, Nathan..." Sam said warningly in a low sing-song voice, turning to face him. Nathan was unabashedly beaming, barely holding in his grin, and Sam let out his own little smile uncomfortably before taking his brother's snack and popping it in his mouth as a distraction. "I didn't say anything," Nate said, still beaming--but, sensing his brother's pending defensiveness, he patted him on the back and reached for another snack. "Here, let's head out. Sully'll bring the car around."

They'd almost made it out the door before Nathan couldn't resist leaning in and saying, "Smooth." 

"Shut UP, Nathan."

"What? I'm serious! I'm impressed! My big brother's got game!" 

Sam huffed, but was still pleased. 

"Sooooo what'd she say--"

"Shut UP, Nathan."


	4. Chapter 4

Three weeks later, Sam, Nathan, and Sully were hanging out with Harry Flynn in a Spanish pub in Málaga, drinking beers and checking out the girls. Or, Sully was checking out the girls, and the other three were drinking and eating. 

Sam and Harry had never really seen eye to eye--mostly because (although they were both loath to admit it out loud) each one got jealous of the other's bond with Nate. Sam didn't like having someone else 'parenting' Nathan, so he already didn't like Sully, but it made him ten times more tense to also have Harry around being brotherly and trying to get Nate to go out on the town. Harry tended to go hard, and Sam knew that Nathan didn't. Plus, Nathan literally COULDN'T. He'd only just turned twenty-one--and Sam still hadn't forgotten that a toddler-sized scoop of cough medicine had been enough to make his baby brother loopy at age fifteen. 

"Hey, if you like these girls, Victor, they'll no doubt be headed over to the club down the street in a bit." Harry 's tone was casual and jocular, but Sam still felt himself puff up a little, knowing what was coming, and covered it by taking a drag on his cigarette. "Ha. I'm afraid I'm not quite cut out for the nightclub scene these days, Harry, but I appreciate the offer." Sully replied regretfully. 

Harry laughed. "You boys in, then? I'm meeting some mates over there later." He looked at Nate. Sam put his arm around his baby brother, pulling him close in a side hug that managed to look teasing on the outside but also had the effect of pulling Nathan a little farther towards himself. "Nah, Nathan here's only just old enough to drink. Plus he's a lightweight."

"No I'm not!" Nate protested, but he didn't resist his brother's hug. They'd always been a touchy-feely family; it was how they showed affection, and checked in on one another. 

"You haven't even finished one drink." 

"So? I--well, I'm eating," he said feebly. 

"Mhm. Sure you are, little brother." Sam ruffled his little brother's head. Harry had been around the Drake brothers enough times to know that Sam's word was final and that he could be touchy--at least when it came to Nathan--so he let it go, changing the subject smoothly to talk about the food. In this industry, it was important to know who not to cross; Harry had no illusions about who would win that fight, and it wasn't him. 

A few minutes later, the conversation shifted to business. "Hey, Harry, you ever worked with Lara Croft before?" Sully asked. Harry nodded, still chewing. "The Tomb Raider? Yeah, once or twice," he said casually. Nathan and Sam's attention sharpened on him, curious--and a little tense on Sam's part. "She's cool," Harry summarized neatly. In this business, 'cool' was a succinct way of saying that someone was a kosher coworker as well as a nice one to be around. It was a five-star review. 'Good' would've meant that she was skilled in her department, and effective, but not exactly fun or friendly. More of a three-star rating. Treasure hunters placed a high value on people who were fun. 

"Guess I'm not surprised. You do run in the same circles," Sully replied, lighting a cigar. Harry scoffed. "What, 'cos we're both British? Well," he tilted his head, conceding, as he drank his beer. "You're not wrong. I'm guessing you've worked with her, Victor--" he took a French fry from Nate's plate, and Nate threw up his hands. Why was everyone always taking his food? "--since you've got a penchant for pretty girls." 

"She is a looker," Sully conceded. "And a sweetheart at that." 

"Tough as nails, too," Harry added, and Sully hummed in agreement. "You boys meeting with her or something?" 

"Actually, we've met already," Nathan said, salvaging what was left of his French fries. "We ran into each other on the Libertalia job, and later at an auction. She does seem cool." 

"Hey," Harry said, serious for once "if you get a chance to work with her, you should take it. She's got talent. Plus she's nice. One of the easier partners in this business." 

"So on a scale of a 1 to a Rafe Adler, she's a 1," Sully said smugly. The others chuckled at that; Rafe had scuttled off from the Avery job with his tail between his legs, and last they'd heard he was focusing on his family's corporation. 

"Never heard how she got into this business, though," Harry mused. 

Sully sat up a little. "Ah. Well, I don't know much, but from what little she told me I gathered that she started out in by-the-books archaeology. Fresh out of school, she was on an expedition...don't know the details, but some kinda shit went down, and practically everyone in the group was decimated."

"Jesus," Nate muttered. "Except Lara."

Sully nodded grimly. "Except Lara. Doesn't take much to know that that was some kinda hell they were in--how she got out, I have absolutely no idea. But I have no idea how Lara does a lot of things."

"Well, she's a trooper." The others looked at Harry, and he rolled his eyes. "Not a PARAtrooper or something, mates, I just mean she's tough! We had some rough times on our jobs, and I really don't know how she was still standing. Don't let her size fool you. Oh--" he held up his beer in warning as a thought struck him "and DON'T mention her height. I didn't know if she'd get mad, so I never did, and I managed to survive. Seems like a safe bet." 

"I'm honestly surprised you didn't hit on her," Sully commented, and Harry laughed. Sam's fingers tightened on his beer for a second. "Eh, Lara's great, but she doesn't go in much for that kind of thing. Trying to flirt was like trying to flirt with a brick wall. Just bounced right off. Had to give up after a while." 

"Maybe it's just you," Nathan offered helpfully, and Harry smacked him lightly. "Cheeky. Right, boys," he stood up. "I'm off, take care of yourselves. And say hello to Lara if you work with her." 

Sam stared after him, jealous but trying to hide it, and Nate side-eyed him subtly. He knew his brother well enough to know what was going on, and wisely chose not to say anything. But he DID offer to split a delicious chocolate cake for dessert, which he knew Sam loved, and the richly-frosted dessert--not to mention Harry's absence--was enough to get the older Drake brother relaxing again. Nate knew his brother didn't like Harry, and he knew why--but he also knew that TONIGHT, his disapproval had something a little more to do with someone named Lara.


	5. Chapter 5

Lara shifted her position mid-crouch, rearranging her footing to have a better balance as she looked up between blades of grass at the man in front of her. Her height had its perks and pitfalls, but it was particularly faulty now, when being bent down hiding and seeing a man much, much taller and bigger made her swallow a little. It was like being a toddler and looking up at a horse. How was she supposed to take down a guy this size? 

She felt a slight murmur in her earpiece; Jonah was whispering. 

"Lara, I haven't heard back from you in a while. I'm gonna assume that means you're hiding like we talked about, and you need a distraction. I'm gonna blow the generator and make the lights go out in three...two..."

A burst of sparks and a violent bang sounded off far to the right, and the overhead light that lit up the clearing went black. Lara took a breath and pounced, knife in hand, stabbing the man in the throat between his armor and helmet and dragging him roughly into the grass before he could even make a sound. The temptation to hunker back down in fright and go back to hiding was strong, but she fought it as usual and took the next second of darkness to move further towards the estate gates. Thatcher was in there, somewhere, with the charts--and she was going to get them. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A few hours before, Sully, Sam, and Nathan had been in their hotel room, organizing and dividing their earnings from a recent job (despite the haul from Libertalia, boredom had set in and the boys were officially back to treasure-hunting), when Sully got a call. 

"Hello?" Sully started grinning and let out a chuckle, meeting Nathan's curious eyes mischievously before putting a game face on when Sam noticed. "Why, Lara Croft," he continued. "It's been too long. Whaddya need?" 

Sam perked up visibly upon hearing who it was, then quickly covered by looking down and pulling his own expression into a serious one and lighting a cigarette. The effort fooled no one, especially not Nate, but he quietly kept packing his bag without any teasing. 

"Mhm. Yeah, I could get there in a couple hours. Any specifics, or is this an improv?" Sully nodded with a devious grin. "That'll do. Text me the coordinates, we'll be there. The Drake brothers are tagging along too. Jonah with you?" Another pause. "No problem, Lara, you know I've lost count of how many favors I owe to you and your father. Say hi to Jonah. See you both tonight. And Lara--I don't know what you're into here, but be careful."

Sam tried to wait and let Nathan ask the questions after a reasonable, casual amount of time, but he couldn't do it and the sentence burst out. "What, the Tomb Raider needs our help? Where is she?"

"Grasse, in France. Two hours away, give or take. We gotta leave now if we're gonna make it in time." 

"Grasse?" Nate asked, while Sam smiled with little-boy excitement underneath his cigarette. "Isn't that that perfume town famous for fragrances? Filled with pink flowers, supposed to smell really nice for miles?"

"That's the one. Wondered why it sounded so familiar."

"Ya know, the two of you know way more about perfumes than I anticipated," Sam said snidely. His grin was still too happy to match his sarcasm, though. "So what's Lara need from us?" Nate waited for a frisky innuendo-laced comment to follow, but was surprised to hear none. Sam really must want to see this girl again, he mused; blushing and sincere behavior were NOT his big brother's usual romance technique. And Nate couldn't lie; he was excited to see Lara again too. She was a cutie, and she was fun to talk to. A visit with someone nice like her was a breath of fresh air--they had had SOME nice coworkers, but not in a while, and the three men had been feeling a little jaded. 

"We're her getaway. Apparently she's stealing something from an important estate--must be an important one, because only rich people can afford to have mansions in Grasse--and she anticipates that things will get a little hairy." 

Sam whistled low. "Sounds like a risky job. She didn't strike me as a huge risk-taker."

"Eh, you'd be surprised," Sully said brightly, lighting a cigar as he stood to grab his bag. Sam followed his cues and reached for his own bag--only to see that Nathan had already quickly packed it during their conversation. He gave his baby brother a grateful smile and head ruffle; Nate grinned and laughed in response before zipping up his own. 

Sully continued speaking. "She might look dainty and soft, and she might not have initially INTENDED to join this operation in the illegal sense, but she sure has taken to it. And Harry was right--Lara has a knack for causing huge explosions, catastrophes, building collapses, wildfires, floods even--and coming out of it on top every time." 

Again, Nathan expected an "on-top" innuendo--and again, Sam just looked interested and attentive. "Really? Wonder how the hell she gets out of that stuff by herself."

"Ironically, it might have something to do with her small size. She's pretty good with stealth. And pretty to look at, too," Sully added as they gave the room a once-over and headed for the door, "which gives her an advantage when it comes to civilians. Not that you're not some good-looking kids yourselves, boys, but the villains in this business are usually men. And since we really couldn't be MORE straight," Sully made an obvious gesture towards their group, laughing "our charms don't exactly do us any flirtatious favors with that crowd." 

"With luck like that, maybe she should take up gambling," Nathan joked as they walked down the street towards the hangar. Sully laughed. "No need. She's got a huge trust fund from her father's estate. He was a lord. Richard Croft."

"Sounded like you knew HIM, too," Sam asked, curious--and pretending he didn't ALREADY know about Lara's heritage or wealth. He may or may not have looked her up a little. There were some vague news articles about a shipwreck rescue from a Japanese island called Yamatai...some explosions at a strange gulag in Siberia, with dozens of small side-mysteries unexplained...and something to do with a temple in Cambodia. Not to mention her father's suicide--he had a hunch it was staged, considering the holes in the gutter press's stories--and the lack of mentions of her mother. Thank goodness Nathan hadn't seen him on the laptop looking this stuff up, Sam had thought--although he was proud of himself, since he wasn't usually very tech-savvy. (Nathan, of course, HAD seen him, but had once again demonstrated brotherly tact in the situation.) 

"I did. Incredible man. Out to do great things. Obsessed, though. Not sure he was around much in England, considering how often I saw him at tombs and dig sites all over the world. He'd mention Lara, though, show me pictures sometimes. Nice guy. Shame what happened to him."

"So...not death by natural causes, then," Sam said caustically as they arrived at the hangar and Sully started getting the plane ready. "Well, the press said otherwise, but Lara and I've always suspected that his death was a homicide. Richard was after some big fish in the treasure-hunting business, although he tried to keep everyone in the dark about it." 

"That's too bad." 

"Yeah. Now," Sully started the engine, and Nate closed the plane's door "let's focus on saving the OTHER Croft, shall we?" 

"Wagons ho," Sam grinned, unable to hold back his excitement any more. The plane had ascended and was heading into the sky when Sam suddenly said:

"Wait--who's 'Jonah'?!" 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Two hours later, they'd landed outside the estate where Jonah was about to catch up.

"Victor, you still didn't say who Jonah is," Sam said a little testily.

"Why do you care?" Now Sully couldn't help teasing a LITTLE. He'd been deliberately dodging that question the whole time, and Nate gave him a look. 

Sam looked sheepish, but grumpy. "I just...sounds like a guy's name, that's all."

"Yeah, because it is. Jonah Maiava, Lara's best friend. They were on Yamatai together. He helps her out as often as he can. He was the ship's cook on that first expedition; makes a mean ceviche." 

"Yeah, Sullivan? None of that is making me feel ANY better." 

Before anyone could retort, Jonah showed up outside. 

"Everything still going all right?" Sully asked from the cockpit as Jonah slid inside and shut the door. "Yeah. Hey, Sully."

"Jonah, Nathan and Sam Drake, Nathan and Sam, Jonah," Sully introduced blithely. Jonah gave them a nod and a polite smile. "Hey. Thanks for helping." 

"No problem," Nate said happily. "We can always use some more excitement." 

Jonah let out a little laugh. "Yeah. Lara gets bored pretty easily too. See if she's still saying that after tonight." Sam couldn't help bristling a little at the man's knowing tone, innocent as it was--and Jonah couldn't help catching the man's glower from the corner of his eye. Oooookay, he thought to himself discerningly, better stay away from that one. 

"So what exactly is Lara up to, anyway?" Sully asked. "She doesn't usually call in favors. And she's got a whole lot of 'em to cash in."

"We got a lead on Trinity after being attacked in Brussels," Jonah murmured, glancing outside. "And Lara has an in with the guy who lives here--a man named Nikolai Thatcher."

"Yeah, I helped her steal a keycard from him in Italy," Sam suddenly piped up, interested in the information and also a little eager to mention a connection that Jonah didn't have. 

"Trinity's moving to do something, but we're not sure what. That's what tonight is about. Hopefully she'll find something out. Be even better if she gets out of it unscathed. She's been radio silent for twenty minutes now; but that's not unusual for Lara." 

Sam opened his mouth to respond to Jonah, eyes dark, and Nate mentally tried to send Sam a message to calm down and give the friendly innocent newcomer a break--just before Lara's posh English whisper came over the radio, and gunfire started blending in with the static. 

Huh, Nate thought, maybe I do have powers.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Meanwhile, Lara rounded a bend on the mansion's third floor, reloading her silencer pistol as she went. She was wearing a black leather jacket and jeans tonight, combat boots and a long braided ponytail making her outfit one fit for both practicality and the cool, fragrance-laden fresh air coming through the windows. Moonlight seeped in wherever it could, forcing her to somersault from shadow to shadow in a slow progression forward. She tried to eavesdrop on the Trinity soldiers for as long as possible, using her French to absorb what little information they were giving out in conversations before killing them. Lara didn't particularly like killing; she'd knock them out if she could, but this particular squad had already tried to kill her in Brussels just four weeks ago. She'd been ready to come back after them then--but Jonah had pointed out that caution was key, and they'd have their guard up for at least a month in anticipation of her retaliation. NOW it was time to act. 

Almost to the library, Lara thought to herself, the night sky glinting in a window and making her remember who was coming for her getaway. The support and impending companionship made her feel brave. 

With some swift kicks and two muted gunshots, the soldiers at the library door collapsed and Lara slipped in silently, glancing around the room before fully stepping in. Thatcher wasn't there, thankfully; she had indeed attended his lecture, and learned over coffee afterwards that he lived here in Grasse on this estate (and only just managed to avoid being directly invited back up to his room). If she could avoid revealing her identity here tonight, perhaps she could continue using him for information. 

A patrol would be coming 'round quickly, so Lara wasted no time in getting to the main desk and searching the papers on its surface, photographing each one carefully. Several of them looked like the charts that she was looking for, and she couldn't help a grin from forming. 

"There! She's in here!" A shout sounded outside, almost to the library door, and Lara swore in a faint British whisper. "SHIT." They must have figured her out somehow. Her gaze went to the window behind her; too high to rappel down without being shot at. Who put a library on a third floor--

Gunshots punched the wall on both sides of it, and she dove behind the desk, reloading her gun quickly while simultaneously stashing the camera securely and flicking a switch on her walkie-talkie. 

"Jonah, is Sully here yet? Third floor, seventh window--"

Jonah could barely hear her through the gunshots on her end, but was quick to relay the message to the men sitting beside him in the plane. "On our way! Give us thirty seconds, Lara!" 

Lara sat up to fire back at the men, keeping them at bay as they hid behind the doorway, then crouched again under their returning barrage.

"We're here!" Jonah shouted, just in time; the next moment was a burst of glass as Lara exploded through the window, leaping for all her might and landing on the plane's spur with her elbows. She clutched at it, holding her legs high and tight while Sully rapidly ascended the plane, gunfire still a flurry around her. 

"Get her up!" Nathan cried, and Sam and Jonah opened the door fiercely, yanking her up and into the plane as it went further into the sky. 

"Thanks," Lara smiled politely, panting a little. 

"Hell of a jump," Sam said, impressed and excited to see her okay. He let his hand linger on her back for a second, and Lara noticed, but she focused on her breath and on sitting up instead, smiling at all the men in a friendly greeting. "Thank you for the lift, Victor," she called up front. 

"You hurt?" Nathan asked, looking back outside for a second to see the mansion recede in the distance, lit up like a beacon. 

Lara shook her head. "No, I'm all right."

"What'd you find?" Jonah asked. Lara reached in her jacket's pocket and held up the camera, smiling and still panting a little, face flushed from exhilaration. "Let's have a look, shall we?"


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The plot is from Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NOT official or accurate diving information (humans can actually only free-dive to one thousand feet down so far, so this depth would kill you if you tried, so please don't!) so please do NOT try any of this at home.

Two hours later, the group was in Lara and Jonah's hotel room (it had separate beds, Sam had been quick and relieved to notice) in an obscure little ("petit", Nathan had been equally quick to joke in a terrible accent) French town. 

"Okay, Lara, what do we got?" Jonah asked, bringing in some food from the cafe across the street. Everyone else was already seated around the room's table; Lara had been using a little printer and laptop to quickly upload and print the photographs, with the others taking and examining the results.

"Mostly it's been shipping manifests and inventory listings so far," Lara said, face serious and thoughtful as she worked. "But Nathan and Sam have found some manifests that place importance on specific crates being sent towards Africa." She nodded at them with a smile, making Sam grin over his beer and Nathan blush. (He was with Elena, after all, but he wasn't DEAD. And Lara really was beautiful.)

"Africa? Nothing more specific?"

"Not yet, but--ahhh," Lara smiled, triumphantly holding up one of the few remaining printouts. "THIS is what I was looking for. Dive charts, with depth soundings and radar readings of the ocean floor's base levels." She put it down on the table, the others leaning around her to look at it too, and ran her fingers over the paper as she analyzed. "It looks like this is from a...chasm," she said, surprised. "Deep down. VERY deep down. Six thousand feet, looks like."

"You'd need a submersible to make that," Sully said knowledgeably, smoking a cigar. Sam had taken cues from him, and seen that it was okay to smoke a cigarette--but he didn't want Lara to know he smoked, for a reason he couldn't quite figure out, and had set the desire aside. Nathan had watched his fingers twitch near the pocket with his lighter, pleased; Sam always instinctively felt the need to smoke when Sullivan did, and had never ignored that need before. 

Lara was nodding. "Yes. Which no doubt Trinity has..." she looked at the next printout, which showed photographs of carvings. 

"Ancient Greek, looks like," Sam said over her shoulder, and Lara blinked a little in surprise at his closeness. "Yes," she murmured to herself, lost in thought. "It says here...and with the depth, and the readings..." she straightened suddenly, clearly coming to a drastic realization, and her face fell. 

"It's the Box," she murmured. "Pandora's Box." 

"As in the Greek myth?" Jonah asked. Lara was already nodding. "Yes...Sam" Sam perked up "Where's that fax you found?"

"Here." Sam handed it over with an excited smile. Lara beamed at him. "Thanks."

Sam couldn't help looking starstruck; he hadn't been expecting the full wattage smile again. And now the blush was back on his face as well as his brother's. 

"This is a fax from Thatcher to a J. Rice," Lara said, holding it up for Jonah to see. "I believe it's meant to be Jonathan Rice, the Nobel Prize-winning scientist turned biological-weapon-designer. The government believes he's been responsible for every act of bioterror in the last five years, and he has no political agenda; he doesn't care who his weapons kill, or why. He just sells to the highest bidder."

"Sounds like a real nice guy," Sam joked, having recovered a little from the smile but still feeling his cheeks' flush. 

Lara laughed, feeling a flush of her own for reasons she firmly chose to ignore. "Right? If Rice is interested in this Box, it can only be for one reason: the Ramante, the anti-life, a plague that is believed to be stored inside. That would be the ultimate new product for his buyers--and either Rice is foolish enough to think he can control the plague, or he's devious enough to unleash it and let his unwitting buyers take the blame when it starts killing thousands. Either way" Lara looked at Jonah grimly "it's genocide." 

"Shit." Everyone's faces fell. "So what do we do, kiddo?" Sully asked. Lara put her hands on her hips and took a bracing breath. "We have to go to Kenya, where this chasm is, and do the dive first." 

"That's a difficult dive," Nathan said. Out of the men, he was the only experienced diver, and he looked over the charts with an analytical expression. 

Lara nodded, recognizing his expertise. "It's practically an impossible dive. The chasm will require that the person get down as far as they can in the submersible, then get out and wiggle their way through the chasm--WITHOUT an oxygen tank. At that depth, it will already be a huge risk to start free-diving due to pressure--even though it looks like the Box is stored in a cavern, here," she pointed on the chart, showing Nathan "so pressure might thankfully not be an issue until the return, when the person must wiggle through the chasm's crevasses again to get back in the sub. But--" Lara smirked "most divers aren't barely over five feet in height." 

The others grinned, but Jonah looked aghast. "Lara, you can't--"

"We can't let Trinity or Rice get the Box, Jonah," she replied. "I don't have a choice. They WILL find a way, even if they have to blast their way through the entire continent's ocean floors to do it." 

"They do have the resources," Jonah murmured. 

"They likely won't assume that we know what they're after," Lara said, leaning forward again over the papers. "But we can't take the chance. We need to leave for Kenya. There's no time to waste." 

"Lara," Sully said, suddenly straightening. He'd been unusually quiet tonight. "For a dive this big, you'll need your energy. I can get you to Kenya in the morning--but for now, everyone needs a full night's sleep and a good dinner. No earlier flights." He held up his cigar firmly, arching an eyebrow, and Lara sighed ruefully. "Don't think I've forgotten about your tendency to run on empty, Lara," he said, smiling affectionately but with an unyielding gaze.

"Come on, Lara, he's right," Jonah said, touching her arm. Sam stared at the spot as if Jonah had set it on fire. 

"Fine," Lara gave in after a moment, hands still on her hips. "In the morning then." 

"I'll go get us a room nearby," Nate said, standing up. "Be right back." 

Jonah started clearing the table for the food, visibly relieved by Lara's concession, while Sam considered going outside for that quick cigarette. He decided against it; a minute away from Lara was a minute she'd be with Jonah. Letting THAT happen was absolutely inconceivable. Instead, he settled for making her a plate of food, receiving a warm thank you and one of her huge smiles for his efforts. Totally worth it, Sam thought, thinking he might never smoke again. Totally worth it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NOT official or accurate diving information (humans can actually only free-dive to one thousand feet down so far, so this depth would kill you if you tried, so please don't!) so please do NOT try any of this at home.


	7. Chapter 7

Three days later 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lara shifted her feet, bouncing a little in place on the boat's deck athletically and rolling her shoulders. Sam tried not to stare. 

"Alllllll right, Lara," Nathan said, as he and Jonah heaved open the door of the tiny yellow submersible, poised to be lowered as it floated on the surface of the deep-blue water. "Got your ride--"

"Thank you," she said with a smile, stretching one more time before gracefully lifting a foot to step in. 

"You be careful, all right Lara?" Sully asked nervously from nearby. "It's a hell of a dive. And a hell of a squeeze, for that matter." 

"It's a good thing I'm so skinny, then," she dismissed cheerily, her accent a posh and pretty contrast to the boys' voices. Sensing the others' uneased-concern, she turned back for a second, poised over the boat's railing. "I'll be all right, boys," she said kindly. "And we can't let Rice and Trinity get to that Box." 

She hopped into the submersible's small seat with a sprightly little jump, and Sam was holding the sub's hatch for her before he'd even realized he was moving. "Thank you, Sam!" she said with a happy laugh. "See you soon!" 

Sam didn't know what to say--especially with the others watching--so he just gave her a little half-hearted salute and a nervous laugh. This really WAS a tough dive...

Lara was already descending below the surface, and he swallowed hard. It was a bright, calm, sunny day in Kenya--but Jesus, he thought, this tiny brunette's making my chest feel like there's a storm.

Forty-five minutes later, Jonah was making an obsessive amount of sandwiches from ingredients in the cooler, Sully was rereading the charts over and over again, and Sam was chain-smoking like a chimney off to the side. Nathan was sitting down in front of him, patiently trying to calm his brother down. 

"It's been too long already, Nathan," Sam said plaintively, hands gesturing wildly, the new cigarette flailing. He tended to get a little hysterical when stressed out, alternating between dramatic, fretful gesturing and narrow-eyed snippiness. Nathan himself went through neither, but was used to both when it came to his brother. 

"She's still not in the danger mark," Nate said calmly, watching his big brother's pacing in a cheerfully long-suffering way. "Over an hour, remember?" He didn't really think it would be a good idea to share that he secretly found Sam's dramatic freak-outs rather amusing.

"Yeah, but we don't have any CONTACT with her, Nathan," Sam said, bearing such a strong resemblance to a lawyer trying to make a case that Nate had to bite his lip and look down at his shoes for a second to hide his smile. "She could be stuck in the chasm" he didn't want to say 'drowning', but left it implied, his throat catching a little at the thought "RIGHT now!" 

"Lara knows what she's doing, Sam," Nate replied patiently, smile successfully hidden. "And I'm already ready to go with the backup sub, okay?"

"If she's stuck--"

"Then I'll go down and get her," Nate interrupted matter-of-factly. "Sam, she's gonna be fine!" 

"You have the shoulders of a LINEBACKER, Nathan, you're not exactly gonna be chasm material." Sam snapped as he paced, but Nathan brushed it off. Sam really must be rattled, he thought; he NEVER acknowledged that Nathan's shoulders might be in a little more muscular shape than his. Sam was ripped, and by no means a slouch in the shoulder-muscle department, but his just had a natural leanness to them that Nathan's didn't have. It was a leanness that he absolutely refused to acknowledge; Sully and Nate both knew that it was a sore spot, and that Sam was going to keep lifting shoulder weights if it killed him, so they gave each other a surprised glance now upon hearing his mention of it.

Nate quickly moved his focus to bring Sam back under his gaze, fixing the sleeve of his well-fitted wetsuit as he spoke. "The sub has retractable arms, remember? I'll figure something out if we need it. At the very least, I'll give her more oxygen."

"Sam," Sully's warning, father(even if he and Sam both denied it)-like rumble sounded from where he was hunched over the charts with his own cigar "you're making ME nervous now. Relax."

"Don't TELL ME to relax Victor--"

"There!" Jonah stood up, moving to the nearby laptop. A red light was beeping on the radar scan. "She's coming back up!"

"Oh thank God," Sam breathed out, sighing melodramatically in relief and running a hand through his hair. He and Nathan moved to the side of the boat, readying the equipment to secure the sub.

"Well," Jonah chuckled, exhaling a relieved chuckle of his own, "on the upside, I made us like sixty sandwiches so--"

"Shit! GET DOWN" 

Sam barely had time to comprehend his brother's shout before Nathan rammed him into the floor. A grenade exploded in the water a few hundred yards behind them. 

"They're here!" Jonah cried. Sam turned, he and Nate getting up again, to see a MUCH bigger boat approaching. And up on the top deck was a guy with an RPG. 

"Nathan, take cover!" Sam hauled his baby brother out of the way, off to the side under one of the boat's railing's. 

"Jonah, is she up yet?!" Sully called, interrupting himself with a "godDAMMIT!" as another RPG hit nearby. 

"Thank God this guy has lousy aim--" Sam panted, looking over at where Lara's sub was supposed to rise anxiously. 

"Don't JINX us!" Nate yelled over the cacophony of new gunfire. The boat was close enough now, and other soldiers had started in with their assault rifles. 

"Almost!" Jonah cried, tentatively clutching the laptop and watching the radar beep as he huddled behind cover with Sullivan. 

"Here!" Nate grabbed the ammo bag from where it was stored nearby, waiting for a break in the firing. He slid guns to the others, handing one to Sam beside him. "We've gotta cover her!"

"Nathan, take out the RPG guy!" Sam nodded at Nate's Arm Micro in his hands, since the others had slower-firing pistols. Nate nodded, staying under cover a little but blind-firing at the guy. As their shots rang out staccato in the sunshine, the beeping on Jonah's laptop got louder. 

"She's here!" 

Sam's head snapped in the opposite railing's direction, seeing the sub start to bubble up from the surface. "Sully, get the wheel!" Nate hollered. The RPG-guy finally went down, and Nate's whoop of victory was countered immediately with retaliating enemy fire. "Ah, crap--"

Lara, for her part, had been exhilarated and a little scratched up from her dive and her wrestle-wiggles through the rocky, thin caverns--but it didn't take her long to notice the strange bubbles and pops that were silently permeating the water around her as she returned. It was surreal to see bullets going by silently, hearing nothing but the submarine's hum as she tensed and prepared to evacuate. 

A bullet grazed the submarine's glass hull as she emerged into the noisy chaos, and she jolted inside its round hull. "Lara!" she heard distantly, seeing Sam bent over up above, facing the other direction but head turned to face her. The distant popping sounds told her that the others were covering with returning fire, so she punched the eject button and quickly slipped out of the sub. Balancing on its hull--without the stabilizing equipment to lock and hold it in place, the sub was now just a floating, slippery buoy--she reached for Sam, flinching from the bullets around her. Sam started blind-firing his gun with one hand, holding the other arm back to reach for her and anxiously looking back and forth between the enemy and his girl, too nervous to even acknowledge that he'd THOUGHT of her as his girl--

Lara jumped the extra bit of distance, ramming into the side of the boat violently as she hung onto Sam's hand with one of her own and clutched the railing with the other. "I'm good! Just go!" She yelled to Sullivan, who instantly kicked the boat into high gear, trying to keep her side of the boat unexposed as they retreated, Jonah and Nathan standing up and committing to full pistol-firing as their final escape. The little sub floated away on its own, temporarily forgotten in the frothing waves. 

"JEsus," Sam panted, glancing over to check on Nathan before quickly lowering his gun and pulling Lara up across the railing, hands on her upper arms and then slippery wetsuit-clad waist. He marveled for a second at how light she was--or how strong HE was--and couldn't help a little burst of self-congratulating pride in his chest. "you sure do know how to pick 'em, Lara. You all right?"

"Yes," she nodded, breathing a little heavily herself from the exertion of precariously hanging. "I'm all right. Everyone else?" 

The others nodded, straightening up and stretching--but Nathan didn't stretch quite fully, and Sam's eyes narrowed. "Nathan?" 

Nate shrugged almost guiltily. "Just a shoulder graze--" Sam was instantly by his side, checking on him "it's fine--don't POKE at it Sam--"

Sam was indeed poking at it, and Nate winced, swatting at his hands. "Stop it--you're a TERRIBLE nurse Sam--"

"No I'm not--" Sam retorted, anxiety over Lara switching to guilt over his brother "you sure you're okay?"

"YES." The wetsuit glimmered blacker with Nathan's blood. "Nothing a little ibuprofen and bandages won't fix," he proclaimed happily, shrugging with the good shoulder. 

"Here, I'll get you the med kit," Jonah said helpfully, stepping around them. He patted Lara's shoulder in passing, and Sam bristled. "You okay, Lara?" 

"I'm great, Jonah" she breathed happily, pulling her waterproof knapsack from around behind her. "Looks like we came just in time." 

She opened the bag just a little, revealing a shimmery golden light. "Oooooh," Sam couldn't help whistling, eyes wide "is that GOLD?"

"Did someone say gold?" Sully almost let go of the wheel, craning his head to look. 

"Sorry, boys," Lara said, "This is on its way to be hidden or destroyed. But I did" she reached into an outer backpack pocket "grab some little trinkets for your troubles."

She held up some ancient gold coins. "There were some other things of value down there in the ruined temple, so perhaps we can come back when Trinity and Rice are no longer here--" 

"No way," Sam said curtly, cutting her off and waving his hands in protest as he stepped closer to look at the coins. "You going down there again? My heart rate can't take it." 

The others were moving around doing things now, providing them with some distraction, but Lara was thrown by the sentimental statement. Her mouth in a small 'o', she found herself actually at a loss for words--and actually...did she feel herself BLUSHING?

Sam most certainly did, and quickly coughed a little to compensate for the heat on his cheeks. Must just be the sun, he thought weakly. He hadn't meant to say that to her out loud, but this dive had made him so stressed-out...and now she looked totally uncomfortable-- 

"How's that comin', Nathan?" he asked loudly, looking at his brother and brusquely pulling out another cigarette. Nate was being patched up in a corner by Jonah, and hissed a little through his teeth. "Never better," he muttered tightly, but still perkily. 

"This one. Always the optimist," Sam chuckled affectionately to Lara. He hoped to God his blush had faded a little. 

"So where to next?" Sully asked, calling Lara over to him in the now-somewhat-battered cockpit.

"First, the hotel," Lara said. "Then, home."


	8. Chapter 8

" _Damn_ ," Sam swore slowly. "You live _here_?"

Lara laughed sheepishly, feeling rather embarrassed. "Originally, yes. I don't spend much time here, though." 

"Why the hell NOT?" Nathan asked, staring at the elegant English manor's sweeping towers and the medieval-style windows looking out over the expansive British countryside. He was too busy gaping at it to notice Sam's little gulp. 

(How the  _hell_ am I gonna impress a girl like this--)

Lara shrugged to answer Nate's question. "I'm not much of a homebody, really. Actually, I was thinking of selling it--but" she led them to the front door, and Sam hastily left his thoughts to help her pull it aside "my father had many secrets, and I still can't be sure that he hasn't hidden some of them within these walls."

"We've found six hidden rooms and two secret crypts ALREADY," Jonah added from behind them with a laugh. 

"There's only a few rooms that are actually still 'habitable'," Lara joked mildly, as Sam and Nate slowly did a 360 turn in the foyer. For some reason, having someone see her wealth like this was making her deeply uncomfortable; guilty, even. She delicately crossed her arms. "You boys are welcome to take any of the bedrooms that you'd like up to the right," she offered. "And honestly, I'm never here so feel free to stop by whenever and stay as long as you like."

Sam froze for a second. "No shit, you serious?"

Nate threw him a slightly exasperated look--Jesus Sam, he thought, we're LITERALLY in front of an actual LADY--but fortunately, Lara laughed, a genuine laugh, at the caustic swear. 

"Yes," she said happily. Sam had looked...weird when he saw her house, and she was relieved to see him looking normal and relaxed again. Hell, now he actually looked  _excited_. 

"Would you boys like a drink?" she asked, and Sam perked up even further. 

"Sweetheart, that's ALWAYS a yes," Sully said with a kind smirk as he joined the group. Sam stiffened a little at hearing the nickname. 

"Come on, this way!" Sam relaxed again; he couldn't help an affectionate laugh at hearing Lara's peppy British chirp, feeling like a gaggle of ducklings being led in a row. But she led them off to the right below the stairs, taking a simple staircase down to get to the kitchen. 

Five minutes later, the boys were settled into a genuinely-comfortable couch within the only part of the place that Lara ACTUALLY lived in. There was a simple, but comfy-looking cot--Sam's abs jolted inward for a second, realizing that was where she sleeps and that that was something he now knew about--with a batch of high-tech computer equipment and ancient texts combined in a cluttered jumble of history and sci-fi tech nearby. The kitchen, the couch, and a few lamps and supply bins were all that made up the rest of the living space, containing everything from blankets to flares to camping equipment to guns; Sam liked it immediately. 

"So, you really don't use the rest of this place," Sully said, smoking his cigar. Lara shook her head as she grabbed a couple bottles of liquor and some glasses, coming back over to them from the sparse kitchen. 

"No," she said ruefully. "Since I can't sell it without making sure I haven't missed anything from my father, I'd actually really like to use it for something else. There's just so much space, so many rooms that could be used. Just not sure for what yet."

She started mixing the drinks expertly, making the boys eyebrows raise. "Pfft," Sam scoffed, "is there ANYTHING you're not good at?" 

Lara laughed self-consciously. "I was a late-night bartender at the Nine Bells. First place I really learned to wrap up wounds; a bullet's got nothing on a broken bottle."

Sam stared at her, slowly taking the proffered drink. "YOU were a bartender."

"For...fun?" Nate asked, also staring. Sully and Jonah relaxed into the couch, sipping their own drinks comfortably. It was a simple, but elegant--and strong--cocktail that Lara had made--but Sam almost missed the glass with his mouth, since he was still so busy staring. 

Lara shrugged as she poured her own drink. "I didn't quite take to the whole private-homeschooling-British-nobility-thing. Much preferred to sneak out whenever possible, be with normal people my own age. Here, it was mostly just butlers and tutors. No one to _talk_ to."

"Sounds lonely." Sam surprised himself with the comment.  _Shit,_ he thought, I keep doin' that--

"Sully mentioned you studied archaeology," Nathan asked, quickly piping up to cover Sam's returning-blush. "Was that when you were bar-tending?"

"Yeah," Lara smiled. "Had a lot of fun doing it, too. But then a big expedition offer came up, so I--" she laughed a little sadly again. "Well, things have sort of snowballed from there." 

Sam watched her over his drink; she sounded sad, but there was still a smile--and he LOVED listening to her accent--

"You know, this place would make a nice orphanage." Now it was NATHAN'S turn to look surprised at himself. He gave Sam a guilty glance, knowing that Sam wouldn't want their past brought up, and quickly continued. "I mean, just--it's got so much space, and all those grounds to run and ride--seems like it would be kind of fun with tons of kids running around instead of just one." 

Lara perked up. "I actually wanted that as a kid! You're right; I'd love to do that here. But--" she gestured to herself with the bottle as she slid to sit down on the carpet cross-legged, a position so adorable and casually lowbrow that Sam's smile grew again "I might have to wait until I'm done with Trinity. It wouldn't be particularly difficult to find out about this place, and they might come here some time in retaliation. Another reason I'm not here very often," she laughed softly.

"Good point," Sully murmured through his cigar. 

"Jonah," Lara said, "what did you find about possible locations?"

"Right." Jonah opened his laptop. "Like you said, there's literally nothing on record about how to destroy this thing." He nodded towards the Box, still stored in the bag. "So our best bet is to hide it in something that's naturally impenetrable. Like a volcano."

"I like the way you think," Nate said cheerily. Sam gave him an affectionate glance; even as a kid, Nathan loved volcanoes. "I thought you were over volcanoes after that run-in we had with the one in Borneo," he teased. Nate waved the comment away. "Eh, it's forgiven. My love still stands."

"Unlike my favorite plane," Sully grumbled. Nate laughed. "Your planes are a dime a dozen, Sully."

"How dare you--"

"ANYWAY," Sam rolled his eyes. "Where did you have in mind?"

"Jan Mayen," Jonah said proudly. The others' interest sharpened.

"That crazy-hard-to-get-to-island in Norway?" Nathan asked. 

"Icy, barren, no fun at all?" Sam added with a raised eyebrow.

"That's the one." 

"There's a volcano there?" Lara asked, curious.

"Yes; kind of a subterranean one, though. Sorry, Nate," Jonah joked, as Nate sighed. "S'okay." 

"We'll have to work hard to avoid being followed," Lara said thoughtfully. "Perhaps we should split up, making Trinity wonder who has the Box."

"Good idea." Sully blinked, surprised by Sam's sudden glare. He sent him an innocent look back. "They'll probably go after the people they recognize, so that'd be you and Jonah. Maybe Jonah and I can head to a less-remote--and easier-on-the-knees--type of volcano, while you three hooligans head north."

Sam's shoulders relaxed, and Sully's mustache twitched in a smile. 

"Right. Okay," Lara said brightly, finishing her drink and sitting up straighter. "Jonah and I will get started on travel arrangements; I think I'll be calling in a favor. Cheers, boys," she said as she lithely stood up, Sam's eyes rising up her body automatically "there's either frozen dinners or take-away pizza. Up to you, I'm afraid."

"Let's get pizza," Sam and Nathan said immediately. Sully laughed. "You do realize you'd be making that poor delivery-boy come almost thirty miles out of civilization. Not to mention up a long, creepy road in the dark--no offense," he said to Lara, who giggled in response. 

"So what?" Sam scoffed. "It'll be a good experience for him."

"It's pouring rain."

"Builds character."

"Yeah, and PNEUMONIA."

"Pneumonia-schmemonia. He'll be fine. Maybe we'll let him have some." 

"Fine. But not pineapple..."

Lara headed over to the computers with Jonah, listening to the boys argue and smiling to herself. For once, she felt comfortable in her own house. 


	9. Chapter 9

Lara hopped down from the Ice Rover, one richly-furred glove still on its door as she looked up and ahead at the glacier before them. She let out an exhale of exhilaration, the breath visible in the cold air as she looked up excitedly at the gorgeously-frozen, supposedly-impenetrable landmass.

Sam alighted on the ground behind her with a thud, feeling thoroughly emasculated by the fluffy fur-rimmed jacket and gloves he was wearing. But Nathan was wearing the same, and had insisted that they really did need to dress like this if they wanted to avoid hypothermia. Denim and wool just wasn't going to cut it--and Sam had to admit, he secretly thought they did look kind of Disney-prince-in-winter-dashing.

But nowhere near as good as Lara. Sam could hardly take his eyes off her; in her taupe fur hat and elegant fur coat and matching gloves, she looked like a classical Siberian princess. He'd been unable to avoid a cough-squeak of surprise when he first saw her in the outfit, and had quickly covered by murmuring "oh! uh...I...I didn't expect to see you in such a furry getup."

Lara had laughed sheepishly and shrugged, tugging at the hat. "It was my grandmother's," she said, her accent again making Sam fixate on her mouth "and I know it's old-fashioned, not to mention the use of the fur--but it is perfect for the job, and might as well not let it waste away in the closet, right?" 

"Mhm. Right." Sam was out of witty things to say. 

Now, Sam leaned forward from behind Lara to talk to her as Nathan came around from the driver's seat. "So," he said, having to speak a little louder over the wind "I don't know about you, but I'm not really seein' a way in here."

"Me neither," Nathan said, joining the pair. Lara simply beamed a big, excited smile, closing her car door finally and fondling the Box-containing-bag in her hands, eyes still on the glacier. 

"You see boys, that's why we're going in from above."

Sam and Nathan looked at each other as she started to walk cheerfully towards the glacier. "Above??" they asked in unison. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"And HOW exactly did you get this chopper here?" Sam was asking over the sound of its blades. They were now sitting in a helicopter's cabin, hovering right over the top of the glacier as Lara was smiling brightly and an anonymous soldier was strapping her into a rappelling harness. Sam only just managed to ignore the jealous desire to be the one strapping her in. 

"By calling in a favor," she chirped happily, in good spirits. They were this close to sealing Pandora's Box away from the enemy; this close to saving the world. 

"And the guy with the drill is...?" Nate sounded so boyishly curious that Sam couldn't help smiling at him. 

"He's going to send the drill down just ahead of me, making a chasm for me to descend into," Lara explained, checking her safety gear. "Once I feel like we're getting close enough to the start of the volcano--"

"Or once the drill runs out of slack line," the guy joked. Sam narrowed his eyes at the man for making Lara laugh. 

"Yes. Once that happens, I drop the Box down into there, and then after I and the drill have been pulled out, we refill the whole chasm with water to freeze over it."

"That's both incredibly simple and incredibly brilliant." Nate looked impressed. Sam could feel his brother's eagerness to be the one rappelling practically vibrating off of him--but just like with the dive, the smallest person was best. Personally, Sam would've preferred it if HE was the one going down...the alternative, worrying about either of these two, would be worth risking himself. 

But no such luck; Lara was the one doing it, and Sam watched like a puppy dog as she started being lowered with a happy wave. The Box was in a backpack put on backwards, to be hanging in front of her chest. 

"Be careful," he called down, feeling his blush start as the other men and Nathan witnessed his concern. 

"I will!" Lara flashed him a big smile, and Sam felt the distinct urge to pull her back up immediately. He gripped the side of the open helicopter door more tightly to resist.

The next few minutes were long ones; Lara would be hanging on the rope patiently, watching while the drill did its work, then lower down more and more into the newly-developing chasm with its progress. The process seemed simple enough, and was--although it was a fairly tight squeeze, and the crampons on her boots came in handy to give her feet grip on the ice as she lowered down--but it was also a fairly slow one, and Lara still couldn't relax until she felt sure that the enemy couldn't get to the Box. Not until it was solidly frozen over could the world feel safe. 

Meanwhile, Sam was biting his nails worrying. Lara was out of sight now, the tension on the rope the only sign of her presence.

"Sam," Nate whispered, conscious of his brother's worries, "relax, okay? She's fine."

Sam sat down with a mix of a sigh and a growl. "Is this what it's like for you and Elena all the time? When one of you's off doing war reporting, or treasure hunting--"

Nate barely held back his smile and looked down at the floor; he wasn't sure Sam had realized the serious romantic comparison he'd just made. Lara was his Elena now, even if she didn't know it. 

"Yes," he nodded. "You just have to trust that she knows what she's doing." He bumped his brother's arm. "Lara's a tough cookie, she'll be fine!"

Then the gunfire started.


	10. Chapter 10

Lara plummeted further down into the cavity immediately, slamming into one icy wall with a cry as she tried to stop her own free-fall. Up above, the man belaying her had just been shot, robbing her rope-line of all tension and support. Sam watched the man crumple next to him in the helicopter and lunged for the rope, landing onto the helicopter floor with a slam and just barely catching the rope with his fingers as it started slipping. Nate understood the problem instantly, too, and threw himself down to give the rope another tug, both boys wincing under the barrage of continuing gunfire. 

Down below, Lara abruptly stopped struggling as she felt the rope's tension return; tentatively, she re-positioned her feet to have a good brace in the chasm, and faintly heard the pops and rat-a-tats of a machine gun's report up above. 

"Lara?!" Sam's Boston accent sounded through the walkie-talkie on her hip, but Lara didn't risk freeing one arm to answer it. Fortunately, he kept talking. "Lara, we're under attack here--just STAY PUT!!--" 

Lara could barely hear him under the sound of the bullets clattering against the chopper. 

"Sam!" Nate yelled to his brother, both of them scooting like inchworms to get further under cover while still holding Lara's rope. "We've gotta take them out--"

"I'll hold Lara. Get to the gun!" Sam nodded towards the tommy gun positioned near the helicopter's open door, on the other side of the opening. "Here--I'll cover you!--" Sam braced his feet against the chopper wall, using his body weight's leverage to temporarily hold the rope taut one-handed while he brandished his pistol with the other. Nate took the opportunity quickly, crossing the open space in a somersault while Sam let out a volley of random-fire gunshots towards the opposing plane. It was some kind of fighter plane, he could see that much--but how the hell had it managed to sneak up on them? 

The pistol shots did nothing more than pepper the enemy plane's hull with little pockmarks, and Sam let out a curse. Lara couldn't be brought out of the chasm safely while the bad guys were still there--she'd be an incredibly easy target--AND she couldn't get lower to bury the Box without communication with a belayer, which the loud gunfire meant she didn't have. Nate's knack for good aim and the raw power of the heavy-duty machine gun blaster was their only real shot. 

When the plane started bursting with sparks and dents as Nathan fired, Sam knew his hypothesis was right. "The pilot! Aim for the pilot!" Sam hollered, and Nathan refocused the big gun. When the plane started sinking rapidly out of the sky, Sam and Nathan both let out victorious whoops. The only crew member left--one of the two pilots, pale from the death of his copilot--quickly started checking the radar. 

"Got more incoming!" he yelled, sounding panicked. Clearly he understood his position as the weakest link onboard, Sam thought sympathetically--but there was no time for distractions. "Lara!" He hailed her on the walkie talkie in the temporary silence. "Just drop the Box, we gotta go, NOW!"

Lara didn't argue; she'd heard the commotion above, and heard the distant explosion as a plane crashed nearby. Some ice chips had fallen down onto her like solid rain from the impact of its landing, making her flinch. Glancing down tentatively, she awkwardly fumbled the Box out of the chasm and tried to aim it. There was still much lower to go in the chasm before she'd hit the volcano; this wasn't ideal, it was still too accessible...too high--and they wouldn't have time to fill it with water as planned--

"Lara, HURRY!" Sam's tone told her there was no time, and she let the Box drop, not even bothering to watch it bounce off the walls and fall further down. She didn't need to know if it got stuck fast somewhere; there was bad news enough already.

"It's done!" she yelled into the radio, one arm free now to press its button. 

"Take her up!" Sam ordered the pilot, the staccato gunfire already returning. SHIT, Lara thought, there's more--

Sam truly felt like his heart stopped as the helicopter ascended; with every yank of the rope as he and Nate double-teamed pulling Lara closer, and with every sway of the chopper and the little Lara hanging on down below as the pilot maneuvered to dodge RPGs, Sam Drake felt his stress triple. Lara, for her part, made an effort to make herself as small and tiny on the rope as possible, inching up it under the barrage of gunfire and almost falling off a few times when the rocket-powered grenades went off so close to her that the explosions sent the rope on crazy parabolas. Sam's entire being might have been focused on Lara, but all Lara could think was 'it's gone, our chance, the Box isn't safe...Trinity will have it up from there in no time--'

Nate stopped helping Sam and went back to focusing on the tommy gun, holding off the two new fighter jets as best he could while the pilot continued taking them higher and Sam got Lara even further up. 

After what felt like an hour, but had only been ten minutes, Lara was being manhandled into the plane and Nate was yanking the bay-door shut. "GO!" All three of them hollered; the beleaguered pilot needed no further encouragement, and picked up the pace. 

Lara sat up on the helicopter floor, about to say that they lost the Box--but her voice was muffled by a strong, muscled forearm, and it took her a moment to realize that Samuel Drake was holding her. In fact, he was holding her so tightly that she had no choice but to stay put.

Nathan moved up front to talk with the pilot and regroup--not to mention get word to Jonah and Sullivan--but for once Sam wouldn't have even cared if there were witnesses to his affection. Lara had literally almost died. They all had. 

Deep down, he knew that the Box was still accessible and it was a bad day all around...but for now, feeling a living and breathing, heartbeat-having Lara Croft in his arms, Sam thought it was the best day in the world.


End file.
